More About LA Rams

Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in Los Angeles, California. The Rams compete in the National Football League as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The club won three NFL championships, and is the only one to win championships representing three different cities (Cleveland in 1945, Los Angeles in 1951, and St. Louis in 1999). The Rams play their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The franchise began in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams, based in Cleveland, Ohio. The club was owned by Homer Marshman and featured players such as William “Bud” Cooper, Harry “The Horse” Mattos, Stan Pincura, and Mike Sebastian. Damon “Buzz” Wetzel joined as general manager.

The franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1946 following the 1945 NFL Championship Game victory, making way for Paul Brown’s Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference and becoming the only NFL championship team to play the following season in another city. The club played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving into a reconstructed Anaheim Stadium in Orange County, California, in 1980.

The Rams left California and moved to St. Louis, Missouri, following the 1994 NFL season. Five seasons after relocating, the team won Super Bowl XXXIV in a 23–16 victory over the Tennessee Titans. They then appeared in Super Bowl XXXVI, where they lost 20–17 to the New England Patriots. The Rams played in St. Louis until the end of the 2015 NFL season, when they filed notice with the NFL of their intent to relocate back to Los Angeles. The move was agreed at an owners’ meeting in January 2016, and the Rams returned to the city for the 2016 NFL season.

LA Rams appeared in Super Bowl LIII, where they lost to the New England Patriots 13–3 in a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVI.

Los Angeles Rams 2018 Season

In the 2018 off-season, the Rams acquired Marcus Peters from the Kansas City Chiefs. The team dealt Robert Quinn to the Miami Dolphins and Alec Ogletree to the New York Giants, and lost Trumaine Johnson to the New York Jets in free agency before trading for five-time Pro Bowler Aqib Talib from the Denver Broncos. The team continued building a defensively strong squad by signing free agent Ndamukong Suh, further bolstering their pass rush. Many experts and analysts began to label the Rams as a serious Super Bowl contender, and the Rams continued to build for a deep postseason run by picking up wide receiver Brandin Cooks in a trade with the New England Patriots, which replaced the loss of Sammy Watkins to the Chiefs in free agency. The Rams then signed Cooks and running back Todd Gurley to five-year extensions, and offensive tackle Rob Havenstein to a four-year extension. The Rams ended their off-season by signing defensive tackle Aaron Donald to a six-year contract worth $135 million. Donald had been holding out for some time as he had been seeking a new deal, and thus missed training camp for the second season in a row, despite privately training on his own. Donald’s contract made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history, though this record was broken a day later when the Chicago Bears signed newly acquired Khalil Mack to a $141 million extension.

The Rams opened their 2018 season on September 10 by defeating the Oakland Raiders 33–13 on Monday Night Football, scoring 23 unanswered second half points in a game during which head coach McVay took on his former mentor, Jon Gruden, who was making his return to coaching. It was the first of two Monday Night Football appearances for the Rams in the season. The Rams continued their strong start with three straight wins at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, shutting out the Arizona Cardinals 34–0 in their home opener in Week 2, defeating the Los Angeles Chargers 35–23 in Week 3 and beating the Minnesota Vikings 38–31 on Thursday Night Football. Los Angeles then went three-for-three on the road with wins at Seattle (33–31), Denver (23–20), and San Francisco (39–10). Returning home in Week 8, Los Angeles rallied to defeat the Green Bay Packers 29–27 to improve to 8–0, their best start since 1969. The Rams were the only remaining undefeated team in the NFL in 2018 until losing on the road to the New Orleans Saints in Week 9 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Rams bounced back with three straight wins, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 36–31, and then winning a wild 54–51 shootout against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. Following a bye week, the Rams beat the host Detroit Lions 30–16 in Week 13 to clinch both a playoff berth and their second straight NFC West title. Los Angeles stumbled with back-to-back losses to the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles, but finished strong with victories over the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers to clinch a first round bye. The Rams’ 13–3 record tied for the second-most wins in a single season in franchise history and were the most ever for any NFL team in Los Angeles.

The Rams began their playoff run by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 30–22 in the divisional round to head to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since January 2002. The following week, the Rams beat the Saints on the road 26–23 to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since Super Bowl XXXVI in January 2002, and since Super Bowl XIV in January 1980 as a Los Angeles team. The game featured a controversial ending: on a third down play inside the final two minutes with the score tied at 20, Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman made contact with Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis well before a pass from Saints quarterback Drew Brees had arrived. Additionally, Robey-Coleman delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit, however, no flag was thrown for pass interference or the illegal hit, leading to outrage from Saints players and fans as this denied New Orleans a first down, which would have likely put the game out of reach. After the game, there was speculation but no clear evidence that the pass was tipped.

The Rams lost in Super Bowl LIII held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia to the New England Patriots by a score of 13–3 in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in history. It was the first time in 35 years that a Los Angeles team was featured in a Super Bowl.